Federal Public Defenders Facing More Furlough Days

The Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference announced in mid-April that federal defenders wouldn’t face more than 15 furlough days under mandatory budget cuts. Now, less than one month later, public defenders have been notified that the maximum furlough time has increased to 20 days. According to a May 10 memorandum sent by Chief Judge William Traxler Jr., chairman of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the committee reconsidered its April decision after getting new information on how defender offices were coping with the cuts, also known as sequestration. The Blog of the Legal Times has the story.